


an idea of longing

by beanierose



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: AU, First Kiss, M/M, listen I just feel very soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-10-05 18:16:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17330033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beanierose/pseuds/beanierose
Summary: An AU ending for 3x12 "Friends and Family"  because I'm just really mad at that lightbulb.





	an idea of longing

_for an ice age I knew you only as an idea of longing:_  
_a voice in the next yard, whispering through the chink_  
_a vagabond outlined against the sky, among the drying grass_  
**D.A. Powell, _continental divide_**

* * *

 

So.

This is new.

They are alone in the store, David and his business partner. They are alone in the store, and Patrick is somehow in David’s arms. The launch was a success, and he feels drunk with relief. The champagne they had to celebrate the launch is a pleasant warmth in his stomach, and Patrick is in his arms.

All day, they’ve been volleying innuendo back and forth. He still can’t quite believe he said the phrase _get hard_ to Patrick. Being around him makes David awkward and bumbling. His whole life, he has taken great pride in his excellent gaydar. It’s a talent of his. Not one he flaunts regularly, because it isn’t up to him to decide who and where and how the people around him come out.

Still, he knows. Usually. But Patrick has him entirely off-kilter. The button down shirts and the sports facts and the self-assuredness of Patrick make David so certain that he is straight. And then it’s fun, because there’s no risk involved. Only now Patrick is holding him and a great tide of terror is cascading through David.

It lasts an absurd amount of time for two platonic business partners. He ages lifetimes in this hug. It’s been a while since David has had physical contact from somebody he cares about. He smells cologne and the sweat of the day on Patrick.

When they break apart, David leaves his hands at Patrick’s shoulders. Touching him like this - touching him at all - feels electric.

“Patrick,” he says, and is intoxicated by the intimacy of that name in his mouth. His body is close enough still that he can feel the heat of Patrick’s thigh. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For doing this with me.”

He means it so desperately. David had come into this with an aesthetic direction and, if he’s not mistaken, a pretty solid vision for this store. What he didn’t have was any real business experience. Needing people is not David’s strong suit, but he does need Patrick.

Badly.

“I’m glad that I did. I think this is gonna be really great.”

As he’s talking, Patrick’s eyes keep darting back down to David’s mouth over and over. He feels like a child. Naive and silly and hoping that the boy he has a crush on will like him back.

Well, more than a boy. And- more than a crush.

Neither of them have acknowledged that David’s hands are still resting at Patrick’s shoulders. He grows brave in the silence and splays his fingers, letting the tips brush along the column of Patrick’s neck. The store is thick with the sound of their twin breaths.

“David,” Patrick says, and then nothing more. He knows that feeling well. The stumbling block of a name. How many times has he opened his mouth to say _Patrick_ and gotten no further.

“You have to tell me.” His voice is a raspy growl, all throat and need. “What you want.”

“This. You.”

Those two words spear David like a hook through his guts. His hips cant towards Patrick’s and it’s the smallest movement, it’s nothing, but Patrick’s lips part on a gasp. David is not sure he’s ever wanted to kiss somebody more in his whole life.

“You have to be sure. Once I start kissing you, I’m not going to be able to stop.”

“I’m sure,” he says, and David is kissing him before Patrick even finishes the sentence.

His other hand comes up to cradle Patrick’s jaw and angle his head. David keeps the press of his mouth to Patrick’s soft, aware of the windows to his right and the whole nosy town up against the glass. He’s kissed so many people. Famous people. Models and actors. And never has it been like this.

Their kiss is slow and exploratory, and David feels Patrick’s ragged breathing against his cheek. His hand has come up to the back of David’s neck and just that one small touch is so arousing. David moves them until Patrick bumps up against the counter. That support makes him brave and he licks at the seam of Patrick’s lips.

He opens to David and allows the stroke of his tongue into his mouth. The nip of teeth at his bottom lip takes David by surprise and he breaks away from Patrick on a gasp. He feels shipwrecked by it. David reaches for Patrick’s hand and brings it to his lips, kisses his knuckle.

“That was- I- Wow-“

David feels so tender towards him. Towards the whole world, this evening. “Was it. . .okay?”

That earns him a laugh. Patrick lifts his chin and seeks David’s mouth again, but they’re both smiling so goofy and wide that they can’t quite manage it. Instead, David kisses Patrick’s temple, the edge of his cheekbone, the corner of his mouth.

His body feels loose and lovely with pleasure. For a long moment they stand there, smudged and blushing. He’s having some trouble meeting Patrick’s eyes, feels suddenly bashful. This is Patrick. _Patrick_. And he just kissed him.

“I’ve never done that before.” Patrick confesses.

It startles David and his eyes fly to Patrick’s face. “You’ve never kissed anyone?”

“A guy,” Patrick clarifies. “So. Thank you.”

A wash of grief rolls through David so swiftly that he has to take a stumbling step backwards. To make room for his shame. He’s played this role before so many times. Straight boys, wanting to experiment. Wondering if maybe they could- and then using David to discover that they couldn’t. Not with him, anyway.

“Oh. Right.”

“David.” The firm, insistent way Patrick says his name gives him the courage to lift his head. “I’ve been thinking about it. A lot. About you. So thank you, for being brave when I couldn’t.”

He can’t think of a single useful response to that. Patrick has been thinking about him? Patrick has been using the fragments of solitude he gets each day, in the shower in the morning, to bow over his own fist and whisper David’s name?

Well. Probably not. But the confirmation that this is not one-sided is dizzying. David kisses Patrick again because he doesn’t know what else to do with himself. Want unfurls like a lazy creature in his stomach, but he is careful. The closed-mouth, again and again press of his lips to Patrick’s is soft and intimate and enough.

“I’ve been thinking about it, too. I just wasn’t sure if you wanted this.” _Wanted me_ , he doesn’t say.

“It took me by surprise. _You_ took me by surprise.”

Patrick is not smiling. He lays a hand flat against David’s chest and tilts his head as if to study him. It makes him squirm and he chews on the inside of his cheek. After a long, excruciating moment David is let out from beneath the bell jar and Patrick drops his hand.

“We should probably go, huh?”

“Probably,” David agrees.

They have to separate at the front of the store, since they live in opposite directions. David feels giddy with relief, and with possibility. After Patrick has locked the doors he turns back around, and David takes the opportunity to kiss him again. When they break apart Patrick offers David a shy smile.

“We’ll talk in the morning?”

“I can’t wait.”

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hello on Twitter, I'm @reallybeanie


End file.
